4th century AD. A rectangular sheet silver panel with repoussé legend in three lines with incised frame; Greek text 'NICOMOMAPPAHM / KTMOPMHAPYKAM / KONA?NA??EAM/, referring to an enigmatic magical formulation (?"). See Hentz, F., 'A Greek Silver Phylactery in the MacDaniel Collection' in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik,, Bd. 112 (1996), pp. 295-300. 137 grams total, 56mm (box: 14.7 x 10.7cm) (2 1/4 (5 3/4 x 4 1/4)"). Ex central London gallery; acquired on the UK art market in 1994. The fragment is part of a magical phylactery for protection of the deceased. Close scrutiny of similar tablets reveals how it was manufactured. It was originally incised on a larger sheet of metal which was then flipped over and vertically cut with a sharp instrument. The slightly curved edges of each cut lamella would then cause it to cave in on the inscribed side and thus facilitate the roll-up process. It is quite likely that our tablet was mass-produced as part of a whole set of lamellae which were first inscribed side by side on the same silver sheet, then cut and individually packaged. [No Reserve]